Ontario beekeepers renew call for neonicotinoid ban on field crops

Friday, March 21, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

The Ontario Beekeepers Association is meeting with Premier and Agriculture Minister Kathleen Wynne next week to convince her to take action and ban the use of neonicotinoids on field crops.

The group made the statement in a March 19 press release in response to the province’s release of the final report of the Ontario Bee Health Working Group, which was also released March 19. Dan Davidson, president of the Ontario Beekeepers Association, says the report “is the same old thing that we’ve been seeing. They’re still heavily relying on best management practices, which didn’t work last year and probably aren’t going to work this year.”

The working group was formed last July to bring together experts to provide advice on how to prevent bee mortalities.

In her written statement accompanying the report’s release, Wynne says some of the practices the bee health working group identified to help protect honey bees this planting season include promotion of the use of non-insecticide treated seed, encouraging the use of products, such as the new seed lubricant, and tools, such as deflectors on planters, “to reduce the risk to pollinators being exposed to dust containing neonicotinoids during planting.”

She also notes Ontario continues to look to the federal government as the regulator of pesticides in Canada “to promote evidence-based direction on a national approach to neonicotinoid use.”

In her statement Wynne announced the province would work with beekeepers to study insurance options for bee deaths. She also announced Ontario will form a new pollinator heath working group to expand the focus beyond bees and address concerns about all pollinators.

Reaction to the bee health final report is mixed. The beekeepers association says despite being a member of the bee health working group, it can’t endorse the report now because the organization doesn’t support the notion of using best management practices as the primary strategy to protect bees. But other groups are largely applauding the report.

Pierre Petelle, vice president of chemistry for CropLife Canada, says “there are a lot of positive, collaborative solutions outlined in the report that we support. In many cases we’ve partnered already with many stakeholders along the value chain to implement those and make those part of the best management practices for this spring for growers.”

In addition, CropLife Canada members are actively reaching out to growers to ensure everyone’s aware of what they must do to help minimize impacts on bees. CropLife Canada is a trade association representing the pesticide and plant biotechnology industry.

The report also notes there are a lot of factors affecting bee health, Petelle says. “We know there will be bee deaths this spring and we know there will be overwintering losses for beekeepers and our hope is that people will understand there are a lot of factors that contribute to that, not the least of which is this long, never ending winter that we’re having.”

Some people will point to neonicotinoids as the cause for increases in overwintering losses this year but Petelle says “our hope is the information that was gleaned through the working group and through other sources” will help people realize “the complexity of bee health and realize that broader investigations are important.”

Solutions will come from the broader investigations and all players working together “as opposed to honing in” on neonicotinoids, he explains.

About the option to ban neonicotinoids, Petelle says the impacts of that proposal are grossly understated in the report. A ban would have a tremendous impact on growers and the regulatory system.

The neonicotinoid class of insecticides is relatively new, tremendously low in toxicity for humans and animals and much better for the environment, he says, noting “of course it’s toxic to insects, including bees.” But “that’s only an issue if those bees are exposed to the insecticide and with the work that’s going on with dust reduction and knowledge by growers we know that area will be addressed.”

But beekeepers aren’t so sure. “By promoting best management practices, the government incorrectly assumes that neonicotinoids could be safe for bees if applied properly at planting time,” the association’s press release says. That view ignores a “growing body of evidence that proves the spread of dust from planters is just one way these pesticides are devastating bee populations.”

Debra Conlon, manager of government relations for Grain Farmers of Ontario, says the report reflects discussions at the bee health working group during the past year and many of those initiatives have already begun, such as the planter deflector pilot program to test deflectors. Grain Farmers is also developing a beehive locator app and has supported the introduction the new seed fluency agent lubricant and the incorporation of best management practices on seed labels.

In addition, a bee health panel will be held at Grain Farmers of Ontario’s March Classic meeting Monday in London as a follow up to last year’s panel. “A lot of things have really happened in a short period of time to adjust practices and make sure that we are reducing risk and the bee health working group report really reflects many of those initiatives.”

In the meantime, the beekeepers association’s petition calling for a ban on neonicotinoid use in Ontario has grown to 75,000 signatures, Davidson says, noting it hasn’t yet been presented to the government.

While Wynne hasn’t said no to a ban, Davidson says they’ve met with her staff members who have said the government hasn’t made a decision yet on a ban “but they really talk like they don’t want to do that.” BF